Thursday, November 27, 2008

Conservative Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, is proposing the elimination public campaign financing. The Minister is expected to announce that he is withholding the $1.95 that the government pays political parties for each vote they receive. The cut is expected to significantly hinder Canada’s opposition parties.

Yes, the federal campaign finance system is quite suboptimal and there are much better systems that could be put in place (particularly for electoral reform). However, the current campaign finance system is better than nothing — and nothing is what the Conservatives hope to leave Canadians with.

Unless a better system is put in place, we need the current system to be maintained.

What you can do:

Please call your MP today to protest this attack on Canadian democracy.

Contact the opposition parties in Parliament and ask them to vote this down, even if it means bringing down the government.

Contact the media to let them know you think this is an important story and that you oppose the cut.

I would like all Green Party supporters in Alberta to renew your memberships today, please (or take out a new membership if you’ve never formally joined), so you can contribute to the critical decisions the party is facing. It’s only $10 and you can join online right now with a credit card. (Sorry if that comes across as marketing-speak. We really need to make sure as many interested voices are heard on this as possible.)

The issues coming out of the AGM mess (including the contradictory statements of who is the leader of the party, and who forms the party executive), remain unresolved. It’s my guess that it will get pushed to the courts which is a “very bad thing” in my view.

I’ve also posted a bunch of background documents, including some of the emails that went around from the various sides in the issues, and links to all sorts of related information, articles and documents.